Spain and England joined the Netherlands in qualification for the World Cup. Maintaining perfect records in their respective groups, Spain beat Estonia 3-0 and the English looked impressive with a 5-1 victory over Croatia. England’s win came almost two years after Slaven Bilic‘s Croatian team won at Wembley Stadium to prevent England from qualifying for Euro 2008.
Some storied European teams are cutting qualification close. France tied with Group Seven leader Serbia, leaving France four points off of first place and allowing Austria to sniff a chance of second. Portugal might also rely on a second place finish in Group One. Although it won 1-0 in Hungary, Portugal remains five points behind group leaders Denmark and two points behind second place Sweden.
In other results, world champion Italy enjoyed a 2-0 victory over Bulgaria to leave it needing only a draw in its next match to qualify. Germany routed Azerbaijan 4-0 to remain one point ahead of Russia, which won 3-1 in Wales, setting the two teams up for a game on Oct. 10 that will decide the winner of the group. Group Three leader Slovakia strengthened its chances of automatic qualification by winning 2-0 in Northern Ireland. Slovenia is second on goal difference over Northern Ireland after beating Poland 3-0 and could still take top spot by winning its two remaining matches. Northern Ireland needs a win in the Czech Republic and a Slovenian loss to qualify. The Netherlands won 1-0 at Scotland to top Group Nine with a perfect record and end Scotland’s hopes of reaching the tournament. Norway moved up to second in the group with a 2-0 win over Macedonia. The nine European group winners qualify, and eight of the nine second-place teams go to playoffs.